Metallic tie.



No- 889,456. PATENTED JUNE 2, 1908.

W. GOLDIE.

METALLIC TIE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 12, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 mvgm'o'n 2,4 m m wt, PM

' WITNESSES. Q. VVM

THE NORRIS PETERS cu, WASHINGTON n c PATENTED JUNE 2; 1908. W. GOLDIE.METALLIC TIE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 12, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR. Mfg 44., M 2.

WITNESSES.

WILLIAM GOLDIE, OF WILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

METALLIC TIE.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 2, 1908.

Application filed November 12, 1906. Serial No. 343,067.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM GOLDIE, a resident of Wilkinsburg, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Metallic Ties; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to railroad ties, its object being to provideametallic tie adapted to sustain the rails and at the same time onewhich will have stiflness of body between the rails, and providesome'resiliency between the rails and the ballast while it is adapted tohold the ballast and prevent it from working out from underneath thetie, and also provides easy means of tamping, and holds againstlongitudinal creeping of the ties in the ballast.

It consists, generally stated, in a metallic tie having a verticalportion and having outwardly extending base flanges set at a slightdownward incline to a line close to the outer edges of the tie andhaving beyond the same upwardly curved outer edges to direct the ballastunder the tie in tamping; these base flanges being preferably arrangedunder and on each side of the rails, leaving a narrow central portion tothe tie and the trough sections formed by these base flanges outside ofthe rails being longer than the portions thereof between the rails. Italso consists in other improvements as hereinafter more fully set forthand claimed.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 .is a side view of the tie; Fig. 2is a top or plan view thereof; Fig. 3 is a side view of a portion of thetrack illustrating the invention, the same being partly broken away;Fig. 4 is a section through the line 44 Fig. 1v Fig. 5 is a sectionthrough the line 55 Fig. 1; and Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail sectionshowing the method of holding the clip from turning and therebypreventing creeping of the rails.

The rail 1 illustrated in the drawing is of the ordinary section anddoes not require de tailed description. The metallic tie embody ing myinvention has the vertical web portion 2 and the outwardly anddownwardly eX- tending base flanges 3, the tie therefore having the formof an inverted T, the laterally extending portions of which extenddownwardly andoutwardly for the greater width thereof as illustrated.This section can be easily rolled and the wide base flanges obtained, itbeing preferred that the base of the tie shall extend for ten inches ormore in width so as to obtain a very wide bearing u on the ballast. Itwill also be noticed that w iile the base flanges are set. at a downwardincline extending close to the outer edges they have the upwardly curvedouter edge portions 4 which are joined to the main portions of the baseflanges by the base curves 5, and as shown these base flanges are madegradually tapering, this being desirable for rolling while at the sametime on account of their construction the desired resiliency in the tieupon the ballast is obtained, and the ballast bein confined by thedownwardly and outward y extending base flanges is prevented from spreading and working out from under the tie, but on the contrary, willnaturally work up the inclined bottom faces 8* thereof, finally bringingthe track to a firm bed. At the same time the outwardly curved edgeportions 4 provide means for easy tamping, as they give inclines todirect the ballast under the flanges so as to pass beyond the lowestpoints or curves 5 of the flanges between which it will be gripped bythe faces 3 and confined under the tie. Anysand or grit arising from thegrinding of the ballast on the under face of the tie will also beconfined in the same manner and prevented from escaping from under thesame. Furthermore,

these ties can be set close to each other on the bed, on account of theinverted T-form thereof, it only being necessary that there shall be afew inches between the outer edges of the base flanges of the adjacentties, because free space for swinging the tools in tamping is providedon account of the T-section employed, while the upwardly curved outeredges of the base flanges enable the tamper to work .the ballast easilyunder the tie.

In the mid-portion of the tie I bend down the base flanges to form thecentral girder portions 8, such girder ortions having approximatelyvertical walIs, and being joined to the main portions of the baseflanges by the shoulder portions 8 The central girder portions serve tostiffen the body of of the ties upon the ballast and to obtain a girderportions on account of their substantially vertical position alsonaturally working down into the body of the ballast and overcomingliability to center binding.

To provide for support of the rails upon the ties at suitable spacesapart I provide the rail supports 9 which are formed of angle pieceshaving vertical portions 10 and horizontal portions 11. These railsupports are riveted to the web portion 2 of the tie and it will benoticed that in the rolling of the tie I provide the horizontalshoulders 12 directly under the rail supports, the body of the baseflanges being carried out on a horizontal line to form such shouldersand then tapered down and carried on an incline. By this construction apositive support at the base of the vertical portions 10 of the railsupports is obtained, and great load upon the rivets 13 is overcome.These rail supports have the depressed seats 14 formed in their upperface corresponding in width to the base flanges 15 of the rails, and soproviding for holding the track to perfect width of gage, the rail beingseated in the recesses and all liability to rail spreading beingovercome. The rail supports can be made cheaply by rolling a bar bearingthe depressed seat on one face and shearing and bending to shape. Therails are held to the rail supports by means of suitable clips 16 whichare held by bolts 17 assing through the cli s and the horizontalportions 11 of the rai supports. Where it is desired to anchor the railsand keep them from longitudinal creeping I prefer to form in the outerface of the horizontal portions 11 of the rail supports the notches 18and to provide the clips at their outer'ends with downwardly extendingli s 19 fitting into said notches, so that the c ips are held fromturning both by said lips 19 and the bolts passing through the clips andrail supports. The inner edges of the clips can be made to extend eitherinto slots 20 formed therefor in the-edges of the angle bars 2]connecting the rails, or else may contact with the ends of said anglebars and hold the same from creeping and thereby hold the rails from anycreeping action.

The tie is made of such length that the distance between the center lineof the rail supports, such as at the point 22 and the end 23 of the tieis greater than the distance between the said center line 21 of the railsupport and the depressed portion 24. This gives a greater support uponthe ballast for the portion of the tie outside of the rail than theportion inside. In this way I am enabled to obtain a much more extendedsurface bearing greater surface bearing beyond the rails than betweenthe same, so overcomlng any tend-' ency to center blnding whileprovldlng a very stiff tie, which is stiffened in the center portion bythe reduced or girder portions which at the same time act to work downinto the ballast and prevent center binding of the tie thereon.

In the laying of the track the ties embody ing the invention can beassembled and connected to the rails either by seating each tie in theballast and securing the rails thereto, or by connecting certain ties tothe rails at considerable intervals apart supporting these rails andties above the bed, and then passing the ties under and bolting them tothe rails, and finally lowering the track upon the ballast, the ballasthaving been distributed properly under downwardly extending base flangesof the ties and cleared away if necessary for the reception of thecentral girder portions thereof. The track can then be properly tampedand leveled and the ballast filled in between the ties. It is preferableto fill the ballast on both sides of the web portions of the tie, theballast in this way extending under the base flanges to give supportthereto and hold the ties in place. As the skeleton form of the tie andthe inverted T shape thereof give space for the swinging of theballasting tools, the ties can be set much closer to each other than theordinary wooden railroad ties, and tamping is made easy through theupwardly curved outer edge portions of the base flanges. In the layingof the track while the ballast may be filled around the vertical girderportions it is not packed particularly hard around the same and thegreater depth of such girder portions renders it more difficult to tampunder the same, so that center binding of the track as ordinarily laidis prevented, and in the use of the track the substantially verticalwalls of such girder portions will work down into the ballast muchmoreeasily than the outwardly spreading main portions of the baseflanges which give great bearing surface on the ballast and so provide,a broad support for the tie thereon.

In sustaining the weight brought upon the track by the passing trainsthe base flanges are somewhat resilient, and they have a slight yieldingmotion under the passing load until they are positively packed down totheir seat in the ballast, in this resembling the action of the ordinarywooden ties, while at the same time on account of the downward andoutwardly extending points of the flanges they grip and hold the ballastwhich is gradually worked up and packed under the same, liability of theworking out of the ballast under the tie being prevented. The shoulders8 formed at the ends of the girder portions prevent creeping of the tiesin the ballast, the ballast holding against the inner and outer faces ofthese shoulders, and s0 preventing such creeping. To aid in preventingcreeping action the base flanges themselves are bent down at the ends ofthe ties as at 25, being brought down to about the level'of the lowestpoints of the base flanges. This also prevents the working out of theballast at the ends of the ties and the escape of the dust caused by thegrinding of the metallic ties on the stone or like ballast which iscollected and confined by the outwardly and downwardly extending baseflanges, and such outer lips 25. In carrying the load as above stated,the extension of the tie bodies beyond the rails or rail supports givesgreat surface and direct support to the rails from passing trains, whichsupport is greater outside of the rails than between them and the innercentral girder portion. By so providing broad bearing surface for theouter portions of the ties and diminishing the bearing surface in themid-portion thereof, and stiffening the midportion by the central girderportion, a very solid track is obtained which is sustained againstbending action between the ties, and while the central girder portionsseat themselves in the ballast without causing center binding and theshoulders of such girder portions prevent creeping of the ties.

The rails are sustained against outward movement or strain by fittingwithin the depressed seats 14 of the rail supports so that while savingmetal in the tie body itself by dispensing with continuous top flanges Iam enabled to provide broad faced supports and positive shoulders on theties for sustaining the same and resisting spreading action. I

- am also enabled by the engagement of the clips with the rail supportsto prevent longitudinal creeping of tie track itself, by preventing theturning of the clips and through their engagement with the angle bars ofthe rails.

What I claim is:

1. A metallic tie having a vertical web pore tion and outwardlyextending base flanges set at a slight downward incline and having adownwardly extending central girder portion bent therein.

2. A metallic tie having a vertical portion provided with base flangesextending outwardly and at a slight downward incline to a line close tothe outer edges thereof, and hav ing beyond said line upwardly curvedouter edges to aid in tamping, and having the central portion of the tienarrower than the base flanges.

3. A metallic tie formed of a vertical web portion and downwardly andoutwardly projecting base flanges forming trough sections extendingunder and on each side of the rails, the central portion of the tiebetween said trough sections being narrower than the trough sections andthe portions of the trough sections outside of the rails being longerthan the portions of the trough sections between the rails.

4. A metallic tie formed of a vertical web and outwardly extending baseflanges set at a slight downward incline and having central girderportions bent downwardly therein, the distance between the ends of theties and the central point of the rail supports thereon being greaterthan the distance between the central points of the rail supports andthe central girder portion.

5. A metallic tie formed of an inverted T- bar and rail supports rivetedto the web portion thereof and having depressed seats to receive therail base.

6. A metallic tie formed of an inverted T bar, and rail supports rivetedto the vertical web thereof and having horizontal extensions providedwith depressed seats to receive the rail base.

7. A metallic tie having a vertical web portion and outwardly extendingbase flanges, said flanges having horizontal seats at the base of theweb portion and extending out thence at a slight downward incline, andrail supports resting on the horizontal shoulders of the base flangesand secured to the web portion of the tie.

8. A metallic tie formed of an inverted T- bar and rail supports securedthereto, having horizontal portions extending out, such horizontalportions having notches in their outer edges, and rail clips havingdownwardly extending lips fitting in said notches and extending over therail base and bolted to the rail supports.

9. The combination of rails connected by angle bars, a metallictieformed of an inverted T-bar having rail supports bolted to the webportion thereof and provided with horizontal extensions having angularfaces and cli s having downwardly extending flanges tting to saidangular faces and extending over the rail base and engaging with theangle bar thereof.

In testimony whereof, I the said WILLIAM GOLDIE have hereunto set myhand.

WILLIAM GOLDIE.

Witnesses ROBERT C. TOTTEN, J. R. KELLER.

